


A Little Perseverance, a Little Uphill Climb

by FanFics4allppl



Series: The Life and Times of EraserMic [1]
Category: Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Pre-Canon, Pre-Slash, UA Entrance Exam, UA Sports Festival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:53:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26089717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanFics4allppl/pseuds/FanFics4allppl
Summary: Shota Aizawa has wanted to be a Hero ever since he was little, so naturally he applies to UA's Hero Course. He's not sure how he'll do on the entrance exam, so he applies to the General Studies as well.This is the story of how Shota finally ends up where he belongs, while making a few friends a long the way.
Series: The Life and Times of EraserMic [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1894231
Kudos: 38





	1. A Little Patience

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, the title is inspired by the song To Break In a Glove from Dear Evan Hansen. Cliché? Maybe. I still think it kinda fits the story, so ...
> 
> Enjoy!

Shota woke up at six in the morning, barely having slept at all from being so nervous. It was the big day today – the UA Hero Course entrance exams.

He had been very anxious for the whole week, because he really wanted to get into the Hero Course. He wrote it down as his number one application for high school. Thanks to his dad's not quite so supporting attitude, he wrote down UA's Gerenal Course for the second application.

The written exams for both courses had already taken place earlier that week, and he felt pretty confident about his results. The Hero Course's practical exam, though ... That was something else.

He hadn't told his dad about applying to the Hero Course, thinking it wouldn't do him any good, if he wasn't able to get in, but it would be a cool surprise, if he actually managed to do it. And he had been working very hard for the past few months, training whenever he had gotten a chance.

He was lucky his dad was already at work, having an early meeting. This way, his old man wouldn't even know Shota had gone out of the house at all.

After taking a quick shower to calm his nerves and wake himself up a bit, Shota ate a simple breakfast, checked he had put everything he might need in his bag, and finally got out of the house.

The walk up the hill was a bit tiring, yes, but the sight of UA's main gate still filled him with awe, even though the written exams had already taken place on campus.

He looked around to see what kind of people were coming to take their shot at enrolling in the Hero Course. There was a guy, who almost resembled a human gorilla, an almost fairy-looking girl, a guy with misty-blue hair, and many, many more.

He felt a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of people around him. He wondered what their quirks were. His was probably nothing in comparison to theirs. He thought about the talk he had had with his father a few months back, about his unachievable wish for becoming a hero.

He started trembling a bit, and instinctively brought his hand up to his neck, where he had what he called his capturing weapon. It was a steel wire alloy woven with carbon nanofibers, which he usually wore around his neck like a scarf. It was quite an expensive thing to get, but it had been his father's way of humoring the son's wishes a couple of years ago, while still keeping Shota's feet on the ground.

He tried to calm himself down, but it wasn't really working.

 _Why couldn't I just pick another school with an easier to get into Hero Course?_ he thought.

He realized his mind had just proven his father's point.

»Hey, you okay there?« he heard from behind him.

Shota turned around, and saw a boy with blonde hair approaching him.

»You seem to be shaking a bit. You alright?« the blonde said with a smile.

»Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. T-thanks,« Shota added.

»Are you here for the practical exam, too?«

»Y-yeah. Yeah, I am,« Shota replied. »Oh, sorry. I'm Shota Aizawa,« he said.

The other boy nodded. »Nice to meet you, Aizawa. My name's Hizashi Yamada.« His eyes widened a bit. »Wait a minute ... Weren't you the guy who was done with the written exam in just over half the time?«

Shota slowly nodded.

»That's so cool!« Yamada half-yelled and Shota involuntarily winced because of the volume.

»It wasn't really that difficult.«

»Are you kidding me? Okay, some questions weren't that tough, but do you know how much I struggled with most of them? You're amazing!«

The comment made Shota's lips turn up at the corners into an almost non-existent smile. It didn't really matter, though, because he was hiding the bottom half of his face behind his capture weapon, like always.

»Let's get going. We don't want to be late,« Shota said.

Yamada nodded and they made their way into the building. They made some more small talk, before finally finding the room they were all supposed to gather in.

»Hey,« the blonde called, when they realized they had to part ways because of the assigned seat order. »You're a cool guy. I hope we both get in and we get to be classmates!«

Shota smiled behind his capturing weapon. »Yeah, that wouldn't be bad.«

* * *

The entrance exam was introduced to the applicants by one of the Pro Heroes who were teaching at UA. It was comprised of two parts: a maze-like course, where the students had to find their way out of the building complex they would be in, and an almost tag-like second part, where the students would have to find as many disks as they could, while avoiding the Pro Heroes – all of this in fifteen minutes.

Shota wasn't very thrilled, to say the least.

He found himself at the top of some kind of half demolished office building with a handful of other teenagers. He didn't know their quirks, and he knew only a few of the teachers and their quirks form the Hero Course.

The students had been told they could look around the room they were in, while waiting for the starting signal, so they had the option of making a plan.

Shota saw some teenagers exploring the walls and windows, gathering as much information as possible, while others blatantly stood in the middle of the room, confidently looking like they didn't have a care in the world. Shota decided to look around as well, knowing that knowledge was probably his best chance of actually making his way out.

He first walked towards one of the windows, and realized how tall the building they were in actually was. Sure, he could see the ground, but it was way, _way_ down.

_Lots of floors to cover, then. And since it's supposed to be a maze, the stairs will probably be either compromised or randomly placed at a different location on each floor._

He looked through the window again. There were some lower run-down buildings quite near, which had walls similar to those he usually practiced climbing on.

_Wait. We just have to get down to the rest of the city, right?_

He tried to see the outside of the walls of the building he was already in. They looked too smooth to attempt to scale them. He glanced back to the rest of the fifty or so teenagers behind him.

_If all of us are going to try to get down roughly the same route, then it'll be a very big struggle. But I can make my way just a few floors lower ..._

He turned back to the window.

_Maybe four or five will be enough. If I can get through just a few floors, then this part shouldn't be too much of a problem._

There was a loud but short blaring noise, and everyone started running towards the door. Shota sighed and ran after them. One of the others apparently had a power-type quirk, since the door was down in under a second.

They found themselves in a wide hall with probably at least thirty doors on each side.

Shota, just like the others, ran to a random door. The room inside wasn't big. He looked around a bit, just to make sure but there were no stairs.

He ran back out to the hall. He hallway was full of teenagers, since everyone came back out as well. They all chose another door at random, and Shota noticed most of them tried rooms which others have tried before them.

He paused to think.

Everyone ran out of their rooms again, running to choose another door. But somehow the crowd seemed just a bit smaller. Shota tried to remember where the others went.

The teenagers were out once more, already panicking from not getting it right. Shota noticed that two doors stayed closed, even though he was sure someone had entered them, so he ran to the nearest one of the two, and found a spiral staircase inside.

He carefully closed the door behind him, then ran down.

He had hit the jackpot with choosing that room, because the stairs went down two floors, not just one.

_Three more floors. I can do this._

He opened the door, and the hallway he found himself in was completely dark, only illuminated by the light of the room from which he came.

»Great,« he muttered to himself, and kept the door open while walking away, so he could at least somewhat see what was around him.

It was again a hallway full of doors. He walked forward, and saw two other doors opened ahead. He walked to the first one and looked inside.

Stairs going back up.

He ran back to the hallway and entered the other room.

Stairs going back up, again. Apparently he would have to look at others rooms at random again.

He walked back out and opted to just try the next door. He walked inside, but he could barely make out anything, since there weren't any lights inside. He followed the wall with his hand, and paused when he heard a faint »Screw this!« from somewhere above.

A sound akin to explosion soon followed, and Shota tensed.

»Ughhh!« came from the room directly above him.

Shota pressed himself tightly against the wall, and prepared himself for whatever was coming.

The ceiling suddenly exploded, and one of the teenagers from his group fell to the ground. He stood up and looked around.

»Yup, skipping this floor, too, cause I can't see _shit_ in here!«

Shota tried to run for the door, because he now knew what was going to happen. He only barely reached the doorknob of the thankfully still open door with his right hand, when the ground beneath him was blown to bits.

The room was engulfed in light – the floor beneath must have been much brighter to paint a contrast to the upper murky floor.

Shota half-loosely tied his binding cloth to the doorknob with his left hand, grabbed onto it, then carefully lowered himself down. He landed on the floor and tugged at the binding cloth, which immediately let go of the doorknob.

The room he was in now wasn't as small as the others were – it was a two floors high ballroom.

Shota grinned to himself. _Just one more floor and then I'm out of here._

He spotted the explosive teenager from before walking towards the opposite room. The floor was apparently too thick for him to blast through. Shota's theory proved correct when he looked towards the ground under his feet and saw he was standing in a shallow crater.

He hid behind a column, so the other kid wouldn't see him. He looked around the room and saw a sign that clearly said 'Fire escape'.

Shota couldn't believe his luck.

He ran towards the door under the sign and opened it, revealing a staircase that only went down one floor, instead of the whole way down, like emergency exits usually did. But it was good enough for him, because he saw the exact building he wanted to get to, and it was right in front of him.

There was an alleyway between the two buildings, so they were standing some distance apart. Shota was sure he couldn't jump quite that far, but he could see some sturdy pipes on the roof of the other building. He threw his capturing weapon at one of the pipes, and it wound around the pipe perfectly.

He pulled at the capture weapon to see if it would hold even if he fell. The cloth unwound and flopped down.

»Shit,« Shota quietly cursed.

He tried again, but aimed at a different pipe. The capture weapon wound around it, and when Shota tugged, it stayed in place. He tugged harder, just to make sure – he'd rather spend some time and not cripple himself, than rushing into things and paying the price, thank you very much.

When the cloth stayed in place, Shota decided to jump.

He ended undershooting it only by a little, and grabbed onto the windowsill of the topmost window. He thought about simply scaling down, but he didn't want to become an easy target for any teachers who could be walking around, so he decided to pull himself up to the roof.

He unwrapped the capture weapon from the pipe and found an entrance into the building. He went in, and the staircase was thankfully a normal one, going all the way to the ground floor.

With the help of his capturing weapon, he lowered himself down – it was much faster and easier on his body than just running.

He walked into the street and found some teenagers already running around, even though it had only been around five minutes since the start. Shota realized that many of them looked like they could fly, and had thus probably taken a similar approach as him.

He took out the picture of the disks they had to gather.

He was shaken out of his thoughts by a nearby crash. He turned around and saw a boy with cloud-like blue hair fighting a Pro Hero.

_Weren't we told to avoid being caught by the –_

And the he noticed the many disks the Pro Hero had clipped to his belt.

_Shit._

Shota was a smart teenager. But a fighter? Not so much.

 _Not yet,_ he thought to himself.

The other kid seemed to already have a couple of the colourful disks on him. He was fighting the Hero with something similar to a bo staff. The kid jumped backwards, but he misjudged his landing. Shota was sure the kid was going to be hit by the Hero's powerful stream of water, so he activated his quirk, almost on instinct.

The Hero was completely thrown off by the fact that he suddenly couldn't use his quirk anymore, and the kid managed to get back his footing and slip one of the disks off the teacher.

Shota decided to try the same, but by the time he was near enough to grab a disk, the Hero had already gotten back his composure and was about to punch Shota, but was instead his with a bo staff in the face. Shota snatched a disk and jumped out of the Hero's reach.

The teenager with blue hair landed near him.

»Thanks,« Shota said, looking at the other.

The kid smiled. »You helped first, so no problem. Also, thanks,« he added.

Shota nodded, and the kid ran down the street, jumping on a cloud that appeared out of nowhere, and flew away on it.

Shota was alone again. He noticed that the Hero was waking back up from being knocked out, so he decided to make a run for it as well.

While running, he spotted a number of other Pro Heroes, but he never instigated a fight, knowing full well he could never be able to get close enough to get a disk by himself.

He stopped in the middle of the street.

_Shouldn't I at least try?_

He looked around, realized there wasn't anyone near him, and started running again, now in search for the teachers. He found a Hero who looked like he relied too much on his quirk while chasing some students.

Shota took a deep breath and ran after him.

When the Hero noticed him, the teenager activated his quirk, momentarily erasing the Hero's. The man motioned with his hands, but nothing happened. Shota ran directly towards him, but the other dodged. He threw his binding cloth at the Hero, getting his legs, and the man tripped over. Shota quickly made his way towards the Hero, but then another kid appeared seemingly out of nowhere and snatched the last disk on the Hero's belt.

Shota was about to shout something at the teenager, but the Pro Hero managed to get out the binding cloth and grabbed the one disk Shota had on his belt, pulling it off, and backing away.

Shota was dumbfounded, but he knew he would have to blink soon, so instead of running back into the fight, he retreated as well.

»Shit,« he cursed under his breath.

He was now without a disk, and time was probably going to run out very soon. Not to mention that his eyes were itching like crazy. He should probably add eye drops to his fighting gear.

He looked around, and spotted another Pro Hero, this one with a mutation-type quirk – she had scales all over her body.

Shota intentionally looked away, because he had _zero_ chance against a Hero whose quirk he couldn't erase. The first step forward he made was interrupted by a voice, echoing through the speakers.

»Time's up!«

The teenager stopped in his tracks, and fell down to his knees, sore eyes looking into the distance.

He failed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it!
> 
> Next chapter's up tomorrow


	2. A Little Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shota may be in the General Studies Course, but he doesn't plan on staying there for long ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next day, next chapter - as promised, now let's see how long I can keep this up haha

The letter from UA came the following week.

Shota ran to his room to open it. He took a deep breath and steadied himself, knowing full well what the letter would say, but he still wasn't quite prepared for it.

He opened the envelope and took out the folded piece of paper.

_Dear Mr. Aizawa!_

_We are glad to inform you, that you have been granted your application into the Department of General Studies at U.A. High School._

_In the papers that have been added to this letter, you will find the exact scores and summaries of your entrance exams for both the Department of General Studies and Department for Heroics._

Shota stopped reading after that, and decided to check what his scores were. He found the right papers, and skimmed over them.

He knew the Hero Course had a strict rule that students had to pass both the written and the practical exam with a score of at least 50%, and he was sure that this rule would be his downfall.

He had gotten 99% on his written exam for the General Studies and 100% on the written exam for the Hero Course. His practical exam for the Hero Course yielded a score 47%.

_Seriously? Three percent more and I would've passed?_

He decided to check the added justifications.

The Committee had been very impressed by the way he had acted in the first part of the practical exam, but the second part had sadly cost him just enough points so that he hadn't made the cut.

He had gotten one question only partially wrong on the written exam for the General Studies.

He smiled at that, even though he hadn't made it into the Hero Course.

* * *

March soon ended, and with the start of April, Shota's life as a high school student at UA would finally begin.

His dad had been so thrilled that Shota had made it into UA, never mind the almost perfect score, that he had scheduled a morning off almost a month ahead, so he would be able to drive his son to school on his first day.

Said day finally came, and Shota's dad finally stopped the car near the main entrance.

»Have a great day in school, son,« Shota's dad said with a smile.

»I'll try,« Shota responded and opened his door.

»I'm very proud of you, Shota. You know that, right?« his dad said with a kind, but more serious tone.

Shota turned back to his dad and smiled, the smile clearly visible, since he couldn't put on his capturing weapon over the school uniform. »I know, dad. Thanks.«

Shota's dad leaned over and hugged his son.

The teenager then left the car and started making his way to the door.

»Bye, Shota!«

»Bye, dad!« Shota shouted back as his dead drove away.

»Shota?« he heard. »Shota Aizawa?«

He turned around to find a familiar blonde standing before him.

»Yamada,« Shota greeted.

»Call me Hizashi,« the boy responded with a grin.

Shota nodded. »And you can also call me by my first name.«

»Sure thing, Shota.«

They started walking towards the main building.

»So,« Hizashi started, »did you make it into the Hero Course, too?«

»Actually, no. I got a perfect score on my written exam, but I got 47% on my practical.«

»Oh, now that's a bummer,« the blonde replied. »And with a perfect score on a written exam? They should really change that stupid rule.«

»You were close to failing, too, judging by your tone,« Shota snickered.

Hizashi blushed. »Well, I got, like, 87% on the practical exam, but only 51% on the written exam.«

They walked in silence for a bit.

»So I'm guessing you applied to one of the other programs here?« the blonde asked.

»Yeah, General Studies. I have no idea where my class is, though.«

Hizashi laughed. »Me neither!«

It took them almost ten minutes to find a floor map, decipher it, start going in the right direction, get lost, find a teacher, ask her for directions, and finally find their way to the right part of the building.

»I guess this is where we part ways,« Hizashi said, pointing at the sign that said '1-A'.

»I guess you're right.«

»Well, have a great day.«

Shota smiled. »Thanks. You, too.«

Hizashi nodded, then walked inside the classroom.

Shota made his way down the hall and two floors up to find the sign for the Class 1-C. He entered the room, found his seat – number 1, of course – and sat down without interacting with the few other students who were already in the classroom.

Their homeroom teacher walked in, introduced herself, and started talking about the regular stuff; when and where the opening ceremony would take place, when and in what way they will have the orientation for new students, etc. Then she mentioned some upcoming events, the first one being UA's Sports Festival in the first week of May.

»Nakamura sensei,« one of Shota's classmates said, raising his hand.

»Yes, Tanaka?«

»Do we really have to participate in the Sports Festival? I mean, I know it's a big spectacle and all that, but it's really just an event for the Hero Course to show off their skills, maybe for the Business Course to think of how to promote the quirks or for the Support Course to show off their gadgets.«

»Well,« the teacher started. »There are some events, in which all of the courses have to participate. It's true that this event is more suited for the Hero Course than for the rest, but some UA students can get their dreams to come through by being transferred to the Hero Course if they do well. Students can also get transferred from the Hero Course to other departments if they do very badly, though.«

The teacher took a deep breath to get herself back on track. »On the other side, there are also events like the Culture Festival in December, where the General Studies department and the Support Course get to shine, but the rest of the school participates as well.«

Shota had already stopped listening when the class started discussing the Culture Festival further.

_Students can get transferred to the Hero Course if they do well in the Sports Festival?_

He smiled to himself.

_Guess those martial arts classes I took during spring break are going to be even more useful than I thought._

He sighed.

_The first week in May, huh? That's still almost a month away. I can still get better until then._

The first period was soon finished, since the class used their Homeroom period to already start gathering ideas for the Culture Festival. After the first period, they had biology, English, and modern Japanese literature, and then it was finally lunch time.

Shota grabbed his things and made his way down to the cafeteria. He got his food and started looking around, trying to find an empty table. He found one and sat down. He had just started eating, when someone sat down on the seat opposite him.

»Heya, Shota,« the bubbly voice greeted him, before he even looked who it was.

Shota couldn't help but smile. This kid seemed to always put him in a good mood.

»Hey, Hizashi.«

»How's class?«

»Nothing special, really. I'm starting to think that some people in my class also struggled with the written exam. How've your classes been – « Shota immediately paused when he looked at the other teenager and saw Hizashi's hair drooping down instead of standing up.

»Oh, you know, surprise skill test first thing in the morning, normal right?« Hizashi told him, laughing. »I am _so_ beat right now, you won't believe me. Why are you looking at me like that? Oh, no, is my hair down?«

Shota nodded, still not speaking.

»Shiiiit. Guess it's a good thing I have a spare bottle of hair gel in my bag.«

»Surprise skill test, huh?« Shota asked, finally regaining some of his composure.

»Yup! And we could even use our quirks!«

They continued to talk through lunch, then made their way back to the upper floors together. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful for Shota, what with having two consecutive periods of maths.

The second day was quite similar: Shota had four periods of classes, then he came down to the cafeteria and talked with Hizashi. After lunch, he had another two periods, and then he headed home.

On the next day, a boy with cloud-like blue hair and a band-aid on his nose joined them during lunch, introducing himself as Oboro Shirakumo. Shota realized he was the kid who paired up with him against one of the Pro Heroes during the practical exam, and Oboro remembered it as well, and so the three had lunch together for the rest of the week.

Two weeks later, Hizashi and Oboro introduced Tensei Iida, who was actually from Class 1-B, but he was really nice and they got along well. They talked a bit about how they met during their joint training exercise, and in the following days and weeks, Tensei joined them at lunch from time to time.

They also got frequent visits from Nemuri Kayami, Hero name: Midnight, who was one year older than them, and not so frequent visits from Sekijiro Kan, who was apparently also Hizashi and Oboro's schoolmate.

And just like that, learning new things and meeting new people in school, and training in the afternoons, May came, and with it came UA's Sports Festival.

Shota couldn't wait.


	3. A Little Perseverance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The UA Sports Festival begins, and Shota has to give it his all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter three, yay!

Shota came to school, feeling very excited. He walked directly to the stadium, having already taken his gym clothes the previous day, and found his class' waiting room. There, he found some of the other early students, who were already changing into their gym clothes.

He walked towards an unoccupied chair, and, since there weren't any girls there yet, he started changing. When he was done, he reached into the bag and pulled out his eye drops.

Usually, only the Support Course students were allowed to bring stuff with them, but the eye drops were fairly easy to justify; Shota had apparently started developing chronic dry eye because of his quirk, so he had to have them with him for medical purposes.

When their class was called through speakers, all of them made their way down the hall, and they walked out into the stadium just as they were introduced to the very big crowd of people in the public.

Shota didn't see Hizashi or Oboro, and he certainly didn't know the kid who had to speak for the first years, but he was pretty sure he would see them at one point or another.

One of the pro heroes – Shota thought his name was Snatch, but he wasn't certain – appeared in the field and presented their first challenge: the obstacle race.

The Sand Hero told them that they could use their quirks in the race, and as long as they stayed on the track, everything was fair play. They would have to run out of the stadium, around it, and then back in. He suddenly started the countdown, and on queue, everyone started running towards the exit.

Shota didn't know how he would be able to get to the front. He was sure only the first few would get into the next round, and he desperately wanted to get to the second stage.

When the large group finally got through the narrow hall out of the stadium, Shota found himself at the back of the group. He kept running after the majority of his peers, and suddenly they were standing in front of the first obstacle.

It looked like a vertical cave system, only that one side was covered by glass, so any spectators could see what what going on inside. It was probably also there to prevent flying-type quirk users to just fly to the top, since there wasn't much room for maneuvering.

Shota checked the stone walls and realized they looked fairly easy to climb. He took a route that seemed fairly empty, so he knew he wouldn't be obstructed by anyone in front of him. After having climbed for a bit, he stopped and glanced downwards, and he suddenly wished he had had his capturing weapon with him, just to be on the safe side.

 _No, I can so this,_ he thought to himself, and started climbing again.

He got to the top fairly quickly, and found that there weren't as many people in front of him as before. He started running, so he wouldn't be left too far behind.

After a few tiring minutes, he saw people gathering up ahead. Some of them looked almost discouraged by what was in front of them – most likely the second obstacle.

Shota finally caught up to the crowd and saw a vast canyon with pillar-like stone structures placed all around. The rock pillars were connected with ropes, the whole thing resembling a system of tightropes on an extreme height.

While mostly everyone else was looking around in a panic, trying to figure out how to get across with the help of their quirks, Shota walked up to one of the ropes, and say they were very taut. They didn't swing even a bit, even though there was certainly some wind present.

Shota put his right foot on the rope.

_It's okay. I've walked on my capturing weapon to practice my balance._

He looked down.

_It definitely wasn't quite this high, though._

He took a deep breath and put his left foot on the rope in front of his right.

 _I just have to ... keep my balance,_ he thought to himself, and slowly started walking forward, his arms outstretched to keep him from falling over.

He made his way to the first pillar and exhaled a shaky breath. Then he looked forward, and realized he had to clear at least eleven more pillars before getting to the other side.

»Well, shit. This might take a while,« he grumbled to himself.

He glanced back to see how the others were doing. Many of the other students were hanging from the ropes by their arms and legs, pulling themselves across the abyss below them, suddenly finding their courage after Shota made it across.

_Shit! I can't lose this much time here! And I don't even know what the last obstacle is!_

He looked back towards the ropes he still had to get over and walked to the other side of the pillar, setting his left foot on the rope.

»It's now or never,« he mumbled under his breath, and started running across the rope.

He got to the other side without any problems, so he decided to keep going. He ran over one rope after the other, quickly clearing the pillars on his path.

He was in the middle of the second to last rope, when there was a sudden gust of wind from the side. Shota didn't have time to even think about if the wind was natural or from someone's quirk, he knew he just had to grab the rope, so he wouldn't fall down. He reached out with his hand, and he touched the rope with the tip of his left middle finger, before plunging downwards.

Suddenly, his left hand was caught by another hand, and Shota looked up, only to see the hand protruding from a cloud. His right hand was grasped by another hand, and he was soon pulled up onto the cloud by two grinning teenagers.

»Hizashi! Oboro! Thank you! I thought I was a goner!« Shouta cried as he collapsed on Oboro's cloud, which was already moving towards the end of the canyon.

»No problem, my man,« the blue-haired boy smiled.

»Hey, how come you were so far ahead of us?« Hizashi asked. »When I started climbing up that stupid wall I thought I saw you near the end of the crowd.«

»I'm a quick climber,« Shota grinned.

»Of course you are,« the blonde retorted with a smile.

»You won't believe how much time we lost there. It only made sense that we'd just fly over the canyon, right?« Oboro laughed. »Although, I can't really keep my quirk activated for too long, so we'll have to run over to the next obstacle.«

The other two nodded, and Shota got back on his feet. Once they were over safe ground, the three jumped off the cloud and started running, the cloud evaporating into thin air.

Oboro and Shota were somewhat out of breath, when the trio finally reached the last obstacle, while Hizashi was almost calmly grinning – the breathing exercises he did every day to help with his quirk were actually paying off in a practical scenario.

The final obstacle was a minefield, because of course it was.

The three teenagers weren't sure how many people were still in front of them. Hizashi and Shota looked at Oboro.

The blue-haired boy sighed. »Yeah, I'll try. I'm not promising to get us all the way to the other side, though.«

The teenager called his cloud, and the three jumped on it. It was slower than before, a sure-fire sign of Oboro's exhaustion. They were two thirds of the over the minefield, when the cloud started evaporating.

»Shit,« Oboro softly cursed.

Shota and Hizashi each put one of Oboro's arms over their shoulders and prepared them themselves for the rough landing. The jumped off the cloud at the last second, thankfully touching the ground without landing on any mines.

With Oboro barely staying on his legs while they still had to cover more possibly explosive ground, they had to come up with a good plan.

»Hizashi,« Shota started, looking at the blonde. »Could you use your quirk to activate the mines in front of us? That way we'll just have to run to the other side and back to the stadium without having to worry where the mines are.«

»That actually sounds like a good plan,« the blonde said, nodding.

He looked forward and took a deep breath.

» _YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!_ « he yelled, the mines before them erupting from the ground in a magnificent display of firepower.

Shota looked over the uneven ground the mines left behind. He pulled Oboro towards himself, Hizashi getting the message to let go, and crouched down, so he could lift his friend piggyback style. By the time they reached the end of the minefield, Oboro had regained enough energy to demand to be let down, so he could finish the race on his own to feet.

Sure, Hizashi and Shota had to pull him by the shirt a couple of times so he wouldn't topple over, but in the end, all of them reached the stadium on their own.

Surprisingly, Shota, Hizashi, and Oboro managed to get the 12th, 13th, and 14th place respectively, and they couldn't believe just how far ahead of everyone else they got.

When the rest of the students got to the stadium, they were told that the first 42 people would advance to the second stage, and that they had some time to rest.

* * *

After ten minutes, they were told the second stage was going to be a team event.

»The students will be participating in teams of three,« Snatch started, and Shota, Hizashi, and Oboro looked at each other, nodding.

»One person will be in the middle, the other two on either side. It will be a four-legged race; the person in the middle will have their left leg bound the right leg of the person on their left and their right leg bound to the left leg of the person on their right. To make it more interesting, the left and right students will also wear blindfolds. Also, each one of you has a certain amount of point assigned to you – the student who came in 42nd has 10 points, the 41st student has 20 points, the 40th has 30 points and so on, the only exception being the student who came in first, she has 10,000,000 points.«

Everyone looked at the girl who managed to get first place. »Bring it!« she called, grinning.

»The team total is the sum of each student's points, and half of the team total will be on headbands, which the left and the right student will wear. You can wear them anywhere above the neck, but it must be in plain sight, and you have to keep the blindfold on. The goal here is to gather as many points as possible. You have ten minutes to form teams, starting ... Now.«

Oboro, Shota, and Hizashi already knew they were going to be in the same team, so they opted to make a plan in the time they had.

»Shota should be the one in the middle, because he needs his sight to activate his quirk,« Hizashi said.

»Also, he's also the most attentive out of all of us,« Oboro agreed.

»Sure,« Shota nodded. »You two have any preferences over which side you want to be on?«

»Not really,« Oboro said, shrugging.

»I kinda wanna have you guys on my right, cause I can hear a bit better with my right ear, and we'll need _some_ form of communication,« Hizashi pointed out.

»Agreed,« Shota said. »So, Hizashi, you're on my left, and Oboro's ony my right. Any other ideas?«

»We could aim for Ayame, since she's got the most points?« the blonde tried.

»I'm not sure if that's the best idea,« Shota said.

»Why not?« Oboro asked, intrigued.

»Well, everyone's going to go after her. That means it'll be more difficult for us to get her points. And besides, even if we got the something over five million points, we'd make ourselves into targets.«

»So what do you think we should do?«

»We could try getting everyone else's headbands,« Shota said quietly.

»Everyone else's?« the blue-haired teenager asked.

»Yeah. They'll be too focused on getting Ayame's points so they might not even notice that their own headbands have disappeared. We could gather points more easily, and at the same time make it so the other teams will have less points in the end.«

»You are amazing, Shota,« Hizashi said, grinning.

»I agree, let's do that,« Oboro added.

Shota nodded, and they talked about what kind of code words they could use while maneuvering with only one pair of eyes.

The ten minutes finally ran out, and the teams were handed the blindfolds, tape for legs, and their headbands with points. The students got five more minutes to put on the stuff they received, and then some teachers checked if everyone had everything in place.

The teams walked to a circular stage, and they were told they had to stay in bounds, or else they would be disqualified. The second stage would be over in fifteen minutes.

At the starting signal, everyone started making their way towards Ayame's group.

Shota told Hizashi and Oboro where to walk and when to snatch the headbands, and they were making a lot of progress. The two teenagers on the sides tried to stack their headbands over one another, so it wouldn't be too obvious that they had so many.

They changed their tactics a couple of times while they were walking around – sometimes Oboro would make a thin mist in front of another team, so they were confused just enough for an easy snatch, other times it was Shota who cancelled quirks of some sensory-type students, so their team wouldn't be noticed.

Time passed on, and suddenly the Sand Hero started the countdown of the last ten seconds. Shota saw someone right in front of them finally snatch one of team Ayame's headbands.

It was the perfect opportunity.

»Hizashi, yellow and eleven,« he said quickly and covered his ears, Oboro doing the same.

The blonde took a deep breath and yelled, » _YEAHHHHHH!_ « while snatching the headband that was by Shota's code in front of him and just a bit to the left.

»Code six!« Shota cried while everyone was still recovering from Hizashi's voice. »Hurry!«

They walked back a couple of steps, barely dodging a hand that reached towards them when the opposite team realized their prized possession had gone missing.

The signal for the end blared through the stadium. Everyone slowly took off their blindfolds.

Hizashi glanced down in his hand to see what all the fuss about this last headband had been about.

»We got one of Ayame's team's headbands?!« Hizashi exclaimed, barely keeping his voice quirk in check.

All eyes were suddenly on their team until the Sand Hero started talking again.

»If you'll look up here, these are the results.«

Everyone looked towards the digital scoreboard, Shota putting a few eye drops in his achy eyes, before looking up as well.

He, Hizashi, and Oboro ground up 5,005,220 points, Ayame's team had 5,000,350 points, having only kept one of their two headbands while gaining none, and no other team had quite as many: the third team had 1310 points, the fourth had 1285 points, and the fifth had 760 points, other teams starting below 600 points.

»The first five teams will advance to the last stage,« Snatch announced. »But first, there will be a break, some fun group activities, and then – in about an hour – we will continue to the third stage, which will be one-on-one fights.«

Shota, Oboro and Hizashi decided to just go get something to eat and to drink, and just generally to relax before the last part of the Sports Festival. They were sitting around a table and chatting, when a taller teenager with dark blue hair approached them.

»Hey, guys, congrats on the first place!« Tensei said as he pulled up a chair and joined them at their table.

»Thanks, man! Wait, you're advancing, too, right?« Oboro asked.

»Yeah, our team was fourth, actually.«

»Who'd you team up with?« asked the blonde.

»Sensoji and Sekijiro,« the teenager answered while rubbing the back of his neck. »It was wild, but we somehow managed to work together.«

»If you ask me, it was only because of your fantastic leadership skills,« Shota said.

»Well, I wouldn't say my leadership skills are _that_ good – «

»Are you kidding me?« Hizashi interjected. »You got _Sensoji_ and _Sekijiro_ to work _together_.«

»That's like, if you looked up the word impossible in the dictionary, you'd find a picture of those two on the same team and actually achieving something,« Oboro added.

Tensei smiled, a small blush creeping onto his face.

»Thanks, guys.«

They proceeded to talk about school, about their dreams for the future, and then they talked about going out for lunch together once they were done with the third stage.

On that note, Tensei's face suddenly became serious.

»What is it?« Oboro asked.

»Five teams of three. There's fifteen of us.«

»So?« Hizashi continued the questions.

»If they're going to be one-on-one fights, shouldn't there at least be an even number of people? Better yet, a power of two? Like sixteen?«

»It's true that would make management much easier,« Shota added to the discussion, amused. He turned around to look at a nearby clock.

»I guess we'll find out what they have planned for us in ten minutes.«

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it!
> 
> Last chapter'll be up tomorrow yay


	4. A Little Uphill Climb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The third stage of the Sports Festival begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a bit longer than the others, but I didn't want to break it up into two chapters, so ...
> 
> Also a warning for throwing up I guess.
> 
> Enjoy!

The best fifteen students gathered in the middle of the stadium, where there was a big rectangular stage waiting for the fighters.

The Sand Hero appeared in front of them.

»The third stage, as I've said before, is going to be a series of one-on-one battles. It's kind of a tradition really. Up here is the order of your battles.«

Shota looked up to the screen, and saw that his first opponent would be ... »No one?«

»Why does that side character from the General Course get to advance directly to the next round?« the big, almost ape-looking teenager asked.

»That's Sensoji,« Oboro quietly pointed for Shota.

»The guy that's impossible to cooperate with from our earlier conversation,« Hizashi added.

»Who're you calling impossible to cooperate with, loudmouth?!« Sensoji yelled back.

»See?« the blonde grinned.

»Shota Aizawa was the fastest student in the team which came first in the previous stage. That's why he doesn't have to fight in the first round. Now be quiet and get ready, Sensoji. You're up second.«

Hizashi, Oboro, Shota, and Tensei opted to sit near the walls of the stadium, so they were in the shadow, still relaxing a bit, while also watching the other students' fights.

The Pro Hero proceeded to explain some of the rules, and then the first match finally started.

»Oh, shit,« Oboro cursed, sitting up straight. »My first match is with Sensoji!«

Hizashi looked at him solemnly. »Rest in peace, man, rest in peace.«

»Just try your best,« Tensei tried to calm him.

»Well, of course I'll try my best, but still ... This is Sensoji we're talking about ...«

When the first match was finished, Oboro took a deep breath and stood up. He walked to the stage and tried to relax, if only a little bit.

In the end, Oboro certainly tried his best, but it was clear he was missing his bo staff, and that was his downfall. He wasn't fast enough, and Sensoji finally blasted him out of bounds, successfully winning the match and advancing to the second round.

Tensei was the first to get to Oboro thanks to his engine quirk, and he helped him to the nurse's station which was put in the stadium so Recovery Girl could quickly get to any injured students.

They then slowly made their way back to the other two.

»Well, I'm beat,« Oboro said, falling asleep the moment he was sat onto the ground.

»Um, what just happened? Is he okay?« Shota asked.

»Oh, right,« Hizashi started, ready to explain. »In the Hero Course, some students can get injured a lot. And I mean _a lot_. We have to improve our skills somehow, right? So, naturally, UA's nurse actually has a healing-type quirk. That's that old lady over there; Chiyo Shuzenji, also known as Recovery Girl,« he pointed.

»She just kisses you and you're healed, but her quirk can also make you very tired if you were injured too much,« Tensei concluded.

»Wow, that's very ... convenient,« Shota said, impressed.

The other two laughed, while Oboro slept through the whole thing.

Shota watched the matches, getting to know the quirks of other Hero Course students. He recognized the girl called Ayame in the third match, and she managed to win with some plant-type quirk. He didn't know anyone in the fourth match, but he wanted to see which of them and how they would win in a fight between two students with a similar power-type quirk.

Sekijiro was in the fifth match, and he easily won with his blood-type quirk. Shota didn't know anyone in the sixth match, but it was interesting to watch a student with a water-type quirk try to win on dry land. Which she actually did, in the end.

The seventh match was between Tensei and Hizashi. They got up and walked up to the podium.

»Let's have a good match,« Tensei said, and Hizashi nodded.

Snatch gave them the signal to begin.

Hizashi took a deep breath. » _YEAHHHHHHHH!_ «

Tensei covered his ears as best as he could, but it was obvious he was in pain since the sound was directed straight at him. He ran towards Hizashi, but since he had his hands over his ears, he couldn't activate the engines on his elbows, so the blonde easily avoided him.

Hizashi paused to take another breath. The blue-haired teenager saw it as a chance to attack, so he aimed his arms and started his engines, running towards his friend.

» _YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!_ « Hizashi started again, and Tensei almost doubled over.

He decided to keep his hands down and as steady as he could, and kept running.

The blonde's eyes widened as he suddenly felt Tensei colliding with him, and as much as he yelled and dug his heals into the ground, Tensei still somehow managed to push him out of bounds.

Once out, they both collapsed to the ground.

Hizashi, very much out of breath, got up first, and helped his friend up. Tensei appreciated the help, since he was sporting a very bad headache. He raised his fist when Snatch announced his victory, and then Hizashi helped him to Recovery Girl.

The match between Sensoji and whoever won the first match in the first round was already heating up, when Tensei and Hizashi finally made their way back.

»That was an amazing fight,« said Oboro, who had woken up only moments after the two left for the podium.

»Wow, I can actually hear again,« Tensei said, laughing.

»Sorry again,« Hizashi apologized.

»Again, it's fine. Guess we'll be fighting next,« the teenager pointed out, looking at Shota.

Shota nodded, not really knowing how to respond.

In his life, fighting was mostly associated with running for your life or trying to get rid of violent bullies, but for the Hero Course it was just something they probably did almost every day. He knew it was part of being a Hero, but it was still a bit weird to him, how relaxed these people could be while talking about fighting.

They watched Sensoji win again. The second match of the round was Ayame's turn to shine again, and she won against one of the power-type quirk users.

The third round was going to be between Sekijiro and the water-type quirk user, who managed to outsmart her opponent in the previous round. The two walked up to the podium.

Shota was starting to feel a little nauseous. He got up. »I just have to go to the bathroom real quick.«

He quickly walked away, trying to give the impression that he was in a hurry because he didn't want to miss his match, when in reality he knew he was going to throw up soon, and he just wanted to do it in a bathroom, privately.

He finally got to a stall, fell onto his knees before he even got a chance to close the door and threw up his whole lunch.

He was still dry heaving when he heard someone entering the bathroom.

»Shota? You okay?«

It was Hizashi.

»Y-yeah. I'm, I'm fine,« he said, attempting to get up.

Hizashi was right next to him, holding him so he wouldn't topple over.

»You're not fine, Shota. You just barfed your guts out. I can smell it.«

The dark-haired teenager looked at his feet.

»Come on, wash that taste out of your mouth at least,« the voice quirk user said softly, guiding him to the sinks.

Shota did as he was told, then he leaned on the wall and sat down on the ground.

»I'm sorry, I'm just – «

»Nervous? Yeah, I get that,« Hizashi interrupted, sitting down beside him. »I may be in the Hero Course, but I'm not much of a fighter. I've gotten kinda used to it, but you should've seen me when we had our first training battles.«

»You threw up, too?«

»Yup,« Hizashi said, grinning, but obviously embarrassed. »My whole breakfast and lunch. In front of some of my classmates and my teacher, too.«

»Well, shit,« Shota replied, not quite knowing what to say.

»Yeah, it was bad. _But_ ,« the blonde said, sitting up straight, »I said to myself that fighting was exactly what most heroes did and what I'll have to do someday, too. So I got back up, and I _tried_. Yeah, I got my ass kicked, but I wasn't quite as terrible as I thought I'd be. And besides, if you want to be a hero after high school, when are you going to learn to fight if not _in_ _high school_?«

Shota looked up at his friend. »But ... I've never actually fought anyone by myself. Those teachers in the practical exam weren't even trying half their best and I still couldn't do anything without Oboro.«

»Well, yeah, but that was _two months ago_ , Shota. You were taking those martial arts classes during the summer, so you ought to show something for it,« Hizashi said, jokingly. »Besides, you know now how Tensei fights – he places a lot of faith in his quirk, just like he did against me. If you take away his quirk ...«

»Then I might actually stand a chance against him,« Shota finished for him.

»Exactly,« Hizashi grinned. »Now let's get out of here, so we can see who you'll fight in the next round.«

Shota smiled at his friend's optimism. »Okay,« he said, nodding.

They walked out, just to see Sekijiro make a giant fist of blood and punch his opponent out of bounds. Shota swallowed at that, then he took a deep breath and started walking towards the podium.

»You can do it, Shota!« he heard Oboro cheer.

Shota stepped onto the podium and Tensei did the same on the other side. Tensei smiled at him, and Shota tried his best to smile back.

He took deep breaths, calming himself, so he could activate his quirk, before Tensei could activate his. He closed his eyes to rest them.

»Begin!«

Shota opened his eyes and immediately activated his quirk, his shoulder-length hair flowing up, before Tensei could get too close to him. The blue-haired teenager had already covered some distance before his engines stopped working, but Shota was fine with that, because he wasn't planning on running away this time.

He ran towards his confused friend – he wasn't really sure if Tensei even knew what his quirk was.

Shota surprised Tensei by getting so close so fast, but Tensei jumped back to avoid a kick flying his way. He tried to activate his engines again, but nothing happened. He stopped trying and opted to instead jump away again when Shota ran at him again. The dark-haired teenager took this opportunity to quickly blink, his hair starting to fall down while his quirk was inactive.

He saw Tensei struggling with his engines again, now that he was a safe distance away. Shota positioned himself close to the border, but not too close to be obvious, and closed his eyes on purpose, giving Tensei false hope of being able to activate his quirk.

Shota heard the rumbling of the engines approaching him, and at the last moment, he quickly opened his eyes, cancelling out Tensei's quirk, making him trip right before he could reach Shota. He grabbed the blue-haired teenager by his shirt and threw him forward. Tensei tried to break his fall, sliding a small distance further, his right hand stopping on the ground just outside the border.

»Iida's out!«

Shota looked up.

»Aizawa advances to round 3!«

»I ... What?« Shota mumbled, still unable to believe what had just happened.

His legs couldn't move, even though his heart was pounding. He could see Tensei getting back up, but he still couldn't move himself. He could hear his quick breathing, he could feel his eyes aching, but he couldn't see or hear much else around him.

»Woohoooo! You did it, Shota!«

The teenager looked a bit to the side, and found a grinning Hizashi cheering for him close to the podium. He looked towards the far wall of the stadium, and there he found Oboro still sleepily leaning against it, but smiling for his friend as well.

Something was tugging upwards at the corners of Shota's lips, and he finally managed to smile.

He walked towards Tensei, finding again that walking wasn't that difficult.

»You okay?« he asked the engine-quirk user.

Tensei nodded. »Yeah. Also, that was amazing!«

They got off the podium, so the third round could commence. Hizashi joined them and they walked back to where Oboro was still lazily half sitting, half lying next to the wall.

»That was awesome,« he managed to say.

Shota turned towards the podium.

»I think you have some time to relax,« Tensei said, patting him on the back. »This next round is going to be an epic showdown.«

»Oof, Sensoji against Ayame. That's gonna be fun to watch,« Oboro added.

»Wanna get something to drink, Shota?« Hizashi offered.

»Actually, yes.«

They started walking towards the bathrooms.

»Oh, wait, just gimme a second,« Shota said, turning around and taking the few steps back to where his stuff was on the ground next to Oboro.

He picked up his eye drops and put them in both his eyes, closing them as the liquid came in touch with them. He walked back to Hizashi.

»That's better. Let's go.«

They walked back into the bathroom, where Shota had thrown up not even ten minutes ago.

»You were so amazing back there!« Hizashi yelled, hugging his friend before they came to the sinks.

»Th-thanks,« Shota said, a slight blush creeping onto his face.

Hizashi let him go. »Sorry,« he said, blushing as well.

»I-it's okay. Thanks, though, really. The pep talk earlier really helped.«

Hizashi grinned.

Shota went to drink some water from one of the sinks, and then they sat back down where they had been sitting earlier, and spent some time in comfortable silence.

Suddenly, they heard a series of explosions.

»I think I should get back out there,« Shota said.

»Yup,« Hizashi nodded, standing up and offering a hand to help his friend up as well.

When they got back into the stadium, both Sensoji and Ayame still had some fight in them.

»Who's winning?« Hizashi asked, genuinely interested.

»I'd say Sensoji,« Tensei replied. »Ayame's trying her best, but I think that Sensoji's beating her grass manipulation with his explosive quirk.«

»What's his quirk anyway?« Shota asked, not really knowing the kid before that day. He was pretty sure he saw him during the practical exam, but that didn't really count.

»I think it's called 'blast',« Oboro responded, and Tensei nodded.

»It's perfect for an egoistic hot-head like himself,« the engine quirk user added.

There was another explosion, and when the four students looked towards the podium, Ayame was on her knees, just about to fall over, while Sensoji had a grin on his face even with his harsh breathing.

Shota got up and started towards the podium.

Ayame was carried off the podium, while Sensoji proudly walked away.

»The second match in the semi-finals is Kan vs Aizawa. Please approach the podium.«

»You can do it!«

»Kick his ass!«

»Do your best!«

Shota smiled as he heard his friends cheering for him.

He walked onto the raised podium and readied himself for the match. He took a few deep breaths, and looked up. Sekijiro was just stepping up onto the podium.

Shota thought about what he could do against a guy who was bigger and stronger than himself. He closed his eyes again, waiting for the starting signal.

_I probably won't be able to do much from afar, like I could before. I'll have to get up close and actually fight with him. I just hope he's bad at hand-to-hand combat._

»Begin!«

Shota opened his eyes, activating his quirk, his eyes glowing red and his hair flowing up.

Sekijiro hadn't made a move yet, besides biting some skin off the sides of his thumbs.

_Shit. He watched me fight with Tensei, so he's figured out at least a part of my quirk. He's probably going to stall until I'll have to blink._

Shota started running towards him.

_Guess I can't let him draw this out._

He threw a punch with his right hand. Sekijiro avoided it, but that was part of Shota's plan. The punch was just a distraction, while he swung his right leg at the other's hip. Sekijiro momentarily lost his footing, but he stayed on his feet, throwing a punch of his own towards Shota's face.

Shota dodged, but he also flinched completely on instinct, his eyes momentarily closing. He felt warm liquid wrap around his lower leg, already solidifying, and he quickly opened his eyes to cancel Sekijiro's blood manipulation quirk.

He didn't get thrown out, but that part of the podium was now quite slippery. And while Shota knew how to watch his step on wet and muddy grass, Sekijiro apparently wasn't used to anything but solid ground beneath his feet.

Shota noticed this immediately and swung another punch towards the other student, this one not being a faint. Sekijiro tried to move out of the way again, but he couldn't maneuver well on the blood-stained floor, so Shota landed another hit, this one hitting Sekijiro straight in the face.

The erasure quirk user was pretty sure his knuckles were now bleeding, but he grabbed the other teenager's arm and swung around him, sliding on the blood until he got behind the student. Because of Shota's swing, Sekijiro completely lost his footing, plummeting head first towards the ground.

Shota took a second to blink, but Sekijiro didn't try to attack him. The gray-haired student tried willing his body to get up, but his hands suddenly crumpled under his weight, and he fell back down.

Shota jumped back, just to be safe, when the Sand Hero appeared on the podium. He motioned for Shota to stay away, while he checked on Sekijiro.

»Kan is unable to move. Aizawa advances to the final round!« Snatch announced.

The crowd started cheering, but Shota couldn't help the feeling of his guts twisting. He walked to the Pro Hero and Sekijiro.

»Is he gonna be okay?« he asked, worry very much apparent in his voice.

»Yeah, don't worry kid. He just got knocked out,« Snatch told him, like it was a perfectly everyday occurrence. »That's right, you're not from the Hero Course, so you're probably not used to stuff like this. It really isn't that unusual for heated fights. He's gonna be up by noon, after Recovery Girl gets to him. He's gonna be just fine.«

»Okay, good,« Shota said, now slightly relieved.

He managed to walk off the podium and towards his friends. All three of them ran towards him as they cheered. Shota smiled.

»Oh, do you have my – «

»Eye drops?« Hizashi asked. »Of course. Here.«

Shota gladly accepted them and happily dropped the liquid into his dry eyes.

»I can't believe Sekijiro went down like he did after the floor got a little slippery,« Oboro laughed.

»He was still tough to beat, though,« Shota admitted.

He got some time off before the final round, because the podium had to be scrubbed clean of the blood.

»The teacher said Sekijiro would be up by noon, how bad is that?« he asked, not really knowing how much energy Recovery Girl's healing would take away from someone.

»It usually means it's not quite the lightest of injuries, but since we're talking about Sekijiro, it's not that bad, really,« Oboro said. »His quirk is blood manipulation, but that mostly extends to his own blood. He usually takes back any blood that hasn't touched anything – even air – so he doesn't run out of it during the fight, but since you erased his quirk right as he was making his move, it's like he lost that much blood.«

»B-but people can still get very hurt even just from blood loss!« Shota cried. »Oh, I think I'm gonna be sick again.«

»Again?« Tensei asked.

»It's okay, Shota. Just like Snatch sensei said, once Recovery Girl gets to him, he'll be fine,« Hizashi said, trying to calm his friend down.

»Besides,« Oboro added, »you've got Sensoji to worry about now.«

»Not helping,« Hizashi mumbled.

»No, no, he's got a point. I can just go throw up later,« Shota said, managing a faint smile.

»Again, what's with the throwing up?« Tensei asked again, starting to worry about his friend.

»Nothing, I'm fine,« Shota answered.

Hizashi looked at him sideways, clearly not happy about the way Shota kept using the phrase 'I'm fine' when he obviously wasn't.

They walked towards their part of the wall to sit down while a crew was still cleaning the podium. They sat down and made some small talk. Shota did _not_ want to think about the approaching match.

Nonetheless, the moment soon came, when Shota had to get back to the podium, his friends cheering for him once more.

»A Gen Ed nobody, huh?« Sensoji laughed, spotting him. »This is gonna be a piece of cake.«

Shota couldn't agree more, but he decided that he would at least try. He closed his eyes.

»This is the final match – Sensoji vs Aizawa. Begin!«

Shota opened his eyes, but didn't activate his quirk immediately.

Sensoji let out a few blasts to the sides, just for show, then started running towards his opponent. Shota swallowed thickly, then started running as well.

The moment Sensoji pointed his hands towards him, Shota activated his own quirk.

»The hell?!« the confused teenager yelled, not bothering earlier to find out what Shota's quirk was.

Shota really wished he had had his capture weapon with him so he could take care of the violent kid from afar, but this way, he really had no choice but to get close again. He tried to swing a punch, this time with his left hand, but his attack was blocked.

»Did you fucking erase my quirk or something?!«

He got kicked in the stomach, hard, and now he really felt like he was going to be sick. He didn't even realize his eyes were closed, until he heard a loud blast near him.

»Finally!«

He looked back up and activated his quirk in the last second, Sensoji already pointing at him with his hands, but nothing came out.

»You've gotta be kidding me! You're so annoying!«

Shota managed to get to his feet, but he had to keep one hand on the lower part of his chest. Something there hurt, and he felt like he was having some troubles with breathing.

He pushed through the pain and evaded some of Sensoji's attacks. The explosive teenager threw a punch at his face, and Shota knew he couldn't get away in time, so he blocked it with both his hands. He kept his face whole, but the movement hurt his chest again, and his eyes shut closed. That was when Sensoji used his quirk to blast him away.

Shota landed on his back and all of the air was punched out of him. His right hand hurt a lot. The pain in his chest was starting to be a little too much. His eyes stung – either from tears or from being dry, he couldn't tell.

He grit his teeth and put his weight on his left elbow. He started getting up, but when he moved his chest, he immediately fell back down, his lungs working like crazy.

He couldn't properly catch his breath, and he was starting to feel dizzy. The world around him seemed to grow dark, a shadow which appeared above him being the last thing he saw before losing his consciousness.

* * *

When he opened his eyes, he was in a nice room. The bed he was lying in was very comfortable.

 _Bed?_ he thought. _Wasn't I in a fight?_

He looked around, and realized it was probably some kind of recovery room, judging by all the medical equipment he could see.

He heard voices from outside.

»But we can still come see him, right?«

»We'll be quiet, we promise!«

There was a pause, and then the door opened. The first thing Shota could see was a mop of blonde hair.

Hizashi's eyebrows shot up.

»Shota,« he softly called.

»Hey,« Shota replied weakly. He cleared his throat. »Why am I so tired?«

»You're in Recovery Girl's room,« Oboro quietly explained, once he walked in as well.

»And these three just couldn't wait for you to walk out of here,« an old lady said.

She must have walked in while Shota was focused on Hizashi and Oboro.

»Three?« Shota asked.

»Three,« Tensei said, smiling as he closed the door behind him.

Shota smiled back and tried to get up. Hizashi was the closest, so he helped Shota sit up on the bed.

»I'm guessing you're Recovery Girl?« Shota asked, looking at the old lady, who nodded in response. »Thank you for healing me.«

She smiled kindly. »It's my job, after all. But you're welcome.« Then she smacked Oboro behind the head. »See? He's polite. Not like most of you Hero Course first years ...«

»I'm polite!« Oboro complained.

»Have you ever said thank you to me like he did just now?«

»No ...« he admitted. »Sorry.«

She smiled at him. »There you go. You're learning already.« She then turned back to Shota. »How do you feel?«

»Really tired,« he answered honestly.

She touched his bandaged right hand and nodded when he didn't recoil.

»How's your chest?«

»It hurts, but just a bit,« he said.

She nodded again.

»You broke a rib, and it punctured your lung, you know?«

Shota's face went completely white.

»I ... What?«

»It's mostly fine now. You might feel some chest pain for the next couple of days, but it shouldn't be too bad. Your eyes, though ...«

»They're shit. I know. My ophthalmologist already told me I'm developing chronic dry eye because of my quirk. I've got eye drops.«

»If you already know, then I've got no reason to keep you here. Good job on placing second, though,« she told him.

He smiled again.

»Thank you.«

His friends got him off the bed and Hizashi put Shota's gym shirt over the tired teenager's shoulders with the zipper still down, so he wouldn't be cold.

»Thanks again,« Shota said to Recovery Girl, and then they left the room.

»That was so amazing!« Oboro yelled once they were out in the hallway.

»But I ... But I lost.«

»So? You still put up quite a fight!« Tensei added.

»Also, you really got on his nerves,« Hizashi laughed.

They walked out into the stadium.

»They were waiting for Recovery Girl's thumbs up, so I guess the awarding ceremony will be soon,« Tensei explained.

»Everyone, please gather for the awarding ceremony!« Snatch called.

The students all came back to the stadium, where the third round's stage had been turned into a podium for the winners. Snatch motioned for the four best students to step onto the podium.

Shota walked up and stepped up on the second highest step and watched as the other three got on their steps as well.

Snatch walked up to the third place step.

»Kan, Ayame, you both did an amazing job, and I'm sure you'll continue to do so during the next two and a half years.«

He gave both of them their bronze medals. He then moved to the other side of the podium, approaching the second place step.

»Aizawa. Honestly, kid, I've never seen you before, since you're in the Department of General Studies and not in the Hero Course, but I have to say, I was blown away by your performance today. Keep up the good work.«

He gave Shota the silver medal.

Shota couldn't help but smile. »Thank you.«

The teacher smiled back, then walked to the first place step.

»Sensoji, as hot-headed as you are, you showed great skill today. I'll expect nothing less from you throughout the rest of your time here at UA.«

He gave Sensoji the gold medal, and then stepped back.

»These four are this year's winners, folks! But remember, work hard, and this could be you next year! Plus Ultra!«

»Plus Ultra!« the students of the Hero Course shouted back.

When Shota was allowed to get down from the podium, he joined Hizashi and Oboro on their way back to the main school building.

»Tensei went with his own class?« Shota asked.

Oboro nodded.

»We have your stuff, just so you know,« Hizashi said. »We're not letting you carry it, though.«

Shota smiled. »Thanks guys.«

They walked in comfortable silence.

»Oh, um, what does 'Plus Ultra' mean?« Shota asked.

»Apparently they got it from something that Napoleon said, something about never giving up and always giving it your best, no matter how bad the situation is,« Oboro explained.

»Kind of like 'hakuna matata', except it's more inspirational,« Hizashi said, chuckling.

»Plus Ultra, huh? Sounds cool ...«

They chatted until they got to the main school building, and then Oboro and Hizashi decided to walk with Shota all the way to his classroom, where they finally gave up and gave Shota back his bag.

Shota opened the door and walked inside, planning to quietly get to his seat, like usual.

»Aizawa!«

He looked towards the rest of the class; most of his classmates were already back.

»You were so awesome!«

»Yeah that was so cool!«

»Where did you learn those moves?«

»You came in second out of all eight classes participating! How amazing is that!«

He was suddenly surrounded by his classmates. He was surprised by their attention, but the compliments also warmed his heart, since they were coming from people he wasn't that close with.

»I bet you'll get into the Hero Course now,« one of his classmates said, and Shota smiled at that.

Transferring to the Hero Course. That was what he was aiming for, but he admittedly completely forgot about it, because he was focusing so much on every task the teachers threw their way.

The door opened again, and their homeroom teacher walked in. Everyone sat down on their seats.

»Well, I have to say I'm very happy with the way you all enthusiastically participated, even though you weren't quite as excited a couple of weeks ago. And I'm especially happy for Aizawa, who got second place!«

The whole class clapped at that, and Shota blushed a bit, but still managed a small smile.

»Since you all did your best, the principal decided you can have tomorrow and the day after tomorrow off. So I will see you all back here in three days! Have fun!« she ended as a way of dismissing them.

Everyone slowly got out of the classroom, most of the students tired from all the running in the first stage.

»Aizawa,« his homeroom teacher called. »Please wait here.«

Shota nodded and put his stuff back on his desk, so he didn't have to carry it any longer than necessary.

When everyone else was out of the classroom, the teacher motioned for him to come closer.

»I've been told about your applications to UA. The principal would like to see you, and I believe it has something to do with that,« she told him. »He's waiting in his office for you right now.«

Shota smiled and thanked his teacher, then made his way to the principal's office. He knocked on the door.

»Come in,« chimed a friendly voice.

Shota opened the door and stepped inside.

»Mr. Nezu?« he asked, when he saw the chair was turned away.

»Yes, it's me! The guy you can't quite make out if he's a mouse a dog or a bear!« came from the chair, which turned around, revealing exactly the picture which the voice had painted. »And proud principal of UA!«

Shota was a bit taken aback by the sight before him, but it wasn't the strangest thing he had seen in his life, so he quickly got back his composure.

»Um, my homeroom teacher, Ms. Nakamura, told me to come here in regards to – «

»Yes, yes, I know why you're here, Aizawa. Sit down,« the principal invited and Shota did as he was told.

»You know, I was part of the entrance exam Committee. I was very intrigued by your approach. I believe you were one of the very few applicants who couldn't fly, but didn't go all the way down through the building. In my opinion – and this opinion was shared by many others on the Committee – you quite excelled in rational thinking. Unfortunately, there were many other things we were scoring as well.«

Shota looked at the ground.

»You seemed to grasp the situation quite quickly, but you got inattentive when it truly counted. While your agility and composure still had some room for improvement, your fighting prowess was not nearly close to what UA expect from the students in the Hero Course.«

Shota thickly swallowed.

»That being said, that was what happened on the practical part of the exam two months ago.«

The teenager looked back up at the principal.

»You've since become faster and more agile, more self-assured and more composed. You knew what was happening around you at all times and used your surroundings in your favour. Also, I won't say it was quite 'amazing' or 'astonishing', but your fighting skills have certainly improved the most.«

Principal Nezu got out of his chair and approached the teenager with some papers in hand.

»So, to make myself clear; if you still wish to join the Hero Course, I have no objections,« he said, handing Shota the papers.

The erasure quirk user looked down at what he received.

_Application to transfer from the Department of General Studies to the Department for Heroics_

»Get these signed and back to me tomorrow, and since you're only a month behind – and you got the best written score on the entrance exams for the Hero Course - you can already join your new class in three days, when school resumes.«

Shota looked up.

»Which class will I be in?«

»Do you have any preferences?« the principal asked.

Shota smiled.

»1-A, please.«

»Then, Shota Aizawa, you'll be joining Class 1-A of the Hero Course.«

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it!
> 
> I'll probably be updating this (and future stories) every day, but we'll see how that'll go ... Here's to hoping


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